Chart holder



J. o. BENNETT CHART HOLDER July 22, 1952 Filed Feb. 25, 1948 INVEINTOR. 154m 0. BEA/NW7 MMMZW jy'razwy minat'ion being readily controllable. v At night under conditions ofpoor visibility, ..it,-is;essential that the pilot have acute night, vision. The cockpit lighting is .controllableso' Patented July 22, 1952 UNITED STATES P T NT v 2,603,896,, oHAn'r HOLDER m Jack- 0. Bennett, Jackson Heights, Y. Application February 25, 1944;, Sjerial.No.'10,60 3

' .The present inventionrelates to chart holders and, more particularly to chart holders suitable for use in the operation of aircraft.

In the operation. of modern aircraft, there is a great amount of detailed information that must be constantly kept before the piIOt This information is absolutely essential for proper navigation of the airplane and is much too complex to be committed to memory. 1

This information is published and distributed in loose leaf binders which are kept up todate on an annual subscription basis. The individual charts may thus be conveniently removed from the binder. Obviously, special charts maybe prepared by the pilot himself, but the invention makes this unnecessary where published information is available in standard loose leaf form. if It is an object of the invention toprovide a chart holder which is dimensioned to receive the standard published charts. Because'all. of the available space on the instrumentpanel isfusually taken up by instruments,v there is no place left for the chart holder except on the control wheel. g I

Accordingly, a further object of the invention is to provide a chart holder rwhich may be conveniently and readily attached to the c'o'ntrol wheel or. removed therefrom.

In furtherance of this object, the invention provides a chart holder of light and compact construction which may be readily carried by the pilot in his bag or brief case when not in use.

Still another object of the invention includes the provision of an azimuth scale by which the chart may be'oriented withrespect to the iongitudinal axis of the airplane.

A further object of the invention is to providea chart holder which includes facilitiesvfor' illumination of the chart, the amountpfilluthat it may be dimmed to a point where it does not interfere with the vision of the pilot. .Without the chart holder of thepresentinvention,

lthe pilot in making an instrument landingmust .hold an instrument landing manual andat the same time he must hold a flashlight which gives a blinding intensity of light under the conditions of reduced illumination. Simultaneously, he

4 Claims. (CI. 4010) v Fig: 1 is a perspective view of an" airplane cockpit showing a chart holder embodying the inventionpositioned on the control wheel; Fig. 2 is an enlarged'perspective view of the chart, holder shown in Fig. 1; Y Fig. 3 is a side view'of'the chart holder shown in Fig.1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional'fview taken along the line 4-4 er Fig. 2, looking in the directionof the arrows; and

' "Fig. 5 is a'plan view of a chart for use with the chart holderf I Referring to Fig. 1, the control wheel ll of the airplane-isshown provided with three spokes l2, I3 and I4, the spoke M bein normally substantially in a'vertical plane and the other two spokes'extending outwardly as the arms of a Y. A supporting member 15 carries a spring clip IT at its lower end, the clip I! being arranged to snap over the vertical spoke M of control wheel ll. Member [5 is attached at its upper end by hinge 18 to platform [9. Twoadditional spring clips 20 and '2l are; secured to platform 19 "by leaffls'prings' 22.- Spring clips '20' and 2| "are'fthus' yieldingly secured to platform l9 and are arrang'edto clip over spokes l3 and l2 re- ,spectively'. Clips I1,'20 and 2| are not'bound to rigidly permitting limited rotation for alig'lfim t' withf'control wheels of different sizes and to different spoke angles, Spring clips have been shown for securing the 'chart holder with;

.control Wheel. .,,O th er forms of readilydetachable fastening means, .may .be used .iff-de sired, such as screwclamps, for example.

.A :circular plate 25 is secured to platform: by fastening; means (shown as a,screw 2] and nut 30 provided with a lock washer 3|. QqApair I. offlatacircular spacers-26 serve to maintain plate must observe the instruments and the'ground 4 as he executes the instrument landing. It will be noted thatthis feature of the invention is of tremendous aid to the pilot. in makingwinstrument landings.

It is a feature of the invention that the illumination of the chart is supplied from only one 2:25at a dista nce'fromiplatform I'9.-" Thesespacers f'providesmooth action during rotation of-plate "25; "The lock washer 3| maintains a substanns-11y; constant pressure between'{plate 25, the

11 ood frictional contact preventingfundesired rowiihsi e ifigi 1nc1dental"to* operation of the airplane. This frictional force, however, is sufiiciently small so remainder of the spring to grip a chart securely when the chart is inserted between the curved portion 33 and plate 25. It will be noted the curved portion 33 also facilitates insertion of the chart in the device.

A cover member 35 is shown conveniently ,secured to plate 25 by screws 36 which engage brace 45 within the cover member 35. -Instead of screws 35, clips or other fastening devices may 'rbe iu'sed. Cover 35 :is generallycircular in shape- -wi-tma portion cut away at 1 .to permit quick insertion or removal ,-:of the chart. JlE'he upperzportion ofvcover ,35 is cut away .toprovidesanppening o jzgenerally rectangular shape to permitbbservationgof thechart. The device is dimensioned to ii-tthe usual chart -such as 38 show-nvin Fig; 5.

Disposed within the overhanging portion 1 of cover "35 are :arpai-r of miniature incandescent lamps 39 which are energized from -a-dry:-ce1l battery 40 under controlrof-a rheostat M. ,T-he circuit" arrangements are conventional in allrespectsand are therefore ,not illustrated. -gThe cover: may :be easily removed for the-renewal or replacement of dry :cell battery or lamps 39 by the removal 7of--screws -36. r

:Azimuth markings --areinscribed, on ;pla t es-- 42 which are secured to the upper surface of-eover -35. :Ifdesired, these markings -may be applied directly-to-the-oover or they-may be applieddto the device in any other convenient ,manner. The azimuth markings are so arranged that if the device is turned to have the azimuth reading at the top of .the 7 chart holder :in :.agreement 1 with the compass" or gyroscope reading -of-theairplane, the chartwill then be oriented *with the: various directional iii-iforrnation shown .on 'the {chart in: agreement with the charted aareawas it :actually appearsbefore the -:pilot. This-presupposes of course, that the chart was originally inserted in the holder with the :north indications s on the chart in alignment :with ,the 'zerofof the -azimuth -;graduations ofthe chart hold'er. r It-will5;be-noted-that thechartholder is pre- ?sented to :the pilot :at an angle which permits convenient readingof thechart and-whichmlaoes the-chart :holder somewhatedgewisewvi-therespect tothe instrument: panel got, the-airplane. This rls caused' by -the-action-, of ,theisupporting f member *I 5 and permitsthe pilotconvenientlylto lool ipast:the chart holderiforiobservation oLthe instruments.

fiIliave-uescribed what ibc i e i ib th ies embodiment of my invention. 1"(1611017 wish, however, to be confined-to the=embodiment:shown, j'but what 'I desire "to cover "by" Lettersi Patent is'-'set"forth'-in the appended claims; 'claimz' 4 11 -A --chart' liolder -adapted -to":be quickly atta-chemo andremoved fromrthewsteering iwheel 'of an airplane: comprising; ,tcombination, a chart supporting? :plateand .three-rzspring clips v at the backthereor adaptedio be snappeiontogm #the' steeringwheel =spokes,-.;an arm h-ingedly-cgnnected to the {back lot the: ,plate.,and .carrying Tone of the clips at; ,theg afreerend thereonithe sether twoiclip flbe n r ot t l disposemclps l adjacent to the back of the plate, and the construction and arrangement being such that the attitude of the plate relative to the steering wheel can be adjusted by adjusting the arm carried clip along the steering wheel spoke with which it is engaged. r

2. A self-contained chart holder adapted for attachment to the steering Wheel of an airplane comprising, in combination, a chart supporting table having a snap-on fastening means at .the back thereof, a shielding cover attached to and marginally overlying the table to define and conceal a chart surrounding space, said cover @being open at one side to permit charts to be slid onto and ofi of the table in substantially the plane of the table, and a complete chart illuminating means in' the chart surroundin space beneath ther cov er comprising a battery'gga light, aiswitch and circuit wiring. 3; Aself-contained holder adapted for attach ment tothe steeringwheel fan' airplanecom prisin .in combination,. a chart supportingtable having .a snap-on fastening means at the back thereof, a shieldingcover attached to and maifginally overlying the table to define and conceal a chart surrounding space, said cover being open at one ,side to permit charts to be slid onto and off of the table in substantially thepla'ne of the table, and acomplete variable a chart inuminating means in the chartrsurrounding space beneath theishieldcomprisingra battery, a light, a rheostat andcircuitwiring.

4. A self-contained'holder adapted for attach ment to the steering wheel of an airplane comprising,,in combination, a chart supportingtable having a snap-on fastening means at the back thereof, ashielding cover attached to and manginally overlying the table to define and conceal a chart surrounding space, said cover being open at one side to permit charts to be ,slid' onto and off of the table-insubstantially thelplane oflth'e .table, .a resilient frictional chart -ho1der"dis posed to overlie and bear against the table 'in the chart supporting area vthereof, and a com- ,plete chart illuminating means injthe chart surrounding space beneath the cover comprising a-battery, alight, a switch and circuit wiring.

'JACK o. BENNETT.

.B FER NQ ED The "following-references are of record in the file of this patent: 

